An inquirer asks, “What is the wisdom behind the differences between the funeral prayer and other obligatory prayers, particularly the absence of the call to prayer, the commencement call, bowing, and prostration?”

Islamic law recommends hastening the funeral proceedings, including carrying the deceased’s bier, performing the funeral prayer, and burying the deceased without delay. It has established rulings that necessitate adherence to the textual evidence emphasizing the need for promptness. For this reason, the funeral prayer has been prescribed in its well-known form.

The wisdom behind this is to make the prayer brief and facilitate its performance. Therefore, it is performed without the adhan (call to prayer), iqamah (commencement call), rukuʿ (bowing), sujud (prostration), sujud as-sahw (prostration of forgetfulness), or sujud at-tilawa (prostration performed after reading or hearing specific verses of the Quran). Moreover, the scholars who hold that reciting Surat al-Fatiha is obligatory in the funeral prayer maintain that nothing is to be recited after it. These scholars include al-Shafiʿi, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn Rahawia, Muhammad ibn Maslama, Ash-hab ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Maliki, and Dawud. Alternatively, no portion of the Quran is to be recited in the funeral prayer, according to Abu Hanifa, Malik, in his well-known opinion, and al-Thawri.[1]

And Allah Almighty knows best.